Monday, June 20, 2016

High-Rise's Dystopian Women

Though the initial
response to High-Rise is to coin it as a dystopian society, it is truly a
utopia cataloging its regression into a dystopian society. The architect functions
as the leader, idealist, and creator of the perfect forms of living. Though met
with some adversity and ignorance it is not until the point of willful
regression (finding his wife in potential danger) does he leave from his post
of drafting and aspirations of improvement. In theory, all of the Architect’s
will would create a utopia but the flawed nature of society, the primalistic
state of nature creates a dynamic of class warfare within the society that is
present.

The buildup of the
architect’s weirdly unattached, ominous, yet somehow amicable traits led the
story through his ambiguous relations and desires. The architect sought to
distance himself from the dynamic of the building, being an omnipotent overseer,
but secretly overruled the building through women and his upper-class hand. As
things fail and anarchy reigns he had difficulty appearing as a neutral ruler.
This incited Richard Wilder to seek out, document, and eventually kill the
Architect. As Wilder placed more and more of his scapegoated offenses of the
upper class onto the architect the story of High-Rise was built. This led up to
the climax of the death of the Architect and the subsequent death of Wilder.

I think there are a lot
of subtle points about the function and representation of women in this film.
Because it is a micro-chasm of what actual societies function like, it is
relatively realistic that the women take a more passive role in this film. Helen
Wilder is hardly more than a plot catalyst object. She is the idea holding
Richard Wilder back; she is the source of Wilder’s anger at the end of the
movie at her disappearance; she is a momentary source of pleasure as Laing
sought to cling to fleeting neutrality during the class war. Helen is a flat
character that dynamically forms to fit the role of disparity and struggle as
Wilder’s wife. She functions as being a tool for a very strong character as
Wilder. Charlotte Melville was a socialite with the goal of doing,
experiencing, and functions as a plot device more often than not, rather than
being an in depth character. She was a sex object for Liang, she was a party
thrower, and she was the mother of the Architect’s child. The women within the
upper class function as catalysts and representatives of the general psyche of
the higher classes. The lack of well developed, plot-integral women help
identify the regression of the movie into a dystopia. With modern ideals being
placed onto the idea of a utopia, even a preferable chaotic, barbaric, rooted
natural law society should have heavier female representation. High-Rise
characterizes a typical pre-feminist life a century ago. While the perfection
of a utopia is completely subjective, I think this was intentional by the
director, Ben Wheatley, to heavily plant the disparity between upper and lower
class as a struggle between men as it has characteristically stayed in the
past.

Ways of Seeing by John Berger explains the relationships
between men and women through women. “Men act and women appear. Men look at
women. Women watch themselves being looked at” Women in High-Rise act as uses
for men, they appear next to men being strategically tied to them throughout
the film, where and when they appear is integral to the plot. The men act and
make decisions. The women plan their appearances to their class, such as the
classy women of the upper class’ fluffy skirts, meaningless intercommunications,
and inability to contribute to the male plans. The degeneration of the upper class
is documented by the female’s messy hair, lack of clothes, and eventual praise
of orgies. The women of the lower classes are present only in congregation with
each other and children, lacking means of action but finding power in numbers
as the film progresses. This is characteristic of regression in society, as
knitting groups, book clubs, and female gossiping are aspects of society prior
to modernization and women’s rights. Charlotte Melville was the female with the
most development and initially functions as an empowered women in her ability
to throw parties and choose a (sexual) partner. As the film goes on she
regresses into being a pawn of the system as Wilder abuses her and as she is
subordinate to the Architect.

This film explores the idea of regression of women in society.
It is one way Wheatley discerns the difference on the fine line between utopia
and dystopia. High-Rise’s ability to display women objects of the class they belong
catalogues the decline into dystopia.

** For context: I typed this up and realised the night of I had missed the due date by a few hours and left it to die on my laptop in defeat. It was written fresh I swear.